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12 BEST movies + miniseries like Downton Abbey
In today's post: Find 12 FANTASTIC movies and mini series like Downton Abbey!
It's been a few years since Downton Abbey finished airing and it's still one of my absolute favorite shows. The characters, the costumes, the drama – I loved it all! Period pieces of my favorite and Downton is one of the best. If you're a Downton fan like me, today I'm sharing 12 more movies and series like Downton Abbey. You're going to love them!
NOTE: Click here for a huge list of 101 period movies!
Series like Downton Abbey
NOTE: the links in this post are Amazon affiliate links if you'd to purchase the movies. However, check first to see if you can find them for free on Netflix or Amazon instant video (with Prime membership).
This gem from the geniuses at BBC chronicles the experiences of Jenny, a young nurse in London's East End in the 1950's. She goes to work (and live) at Nonnatus House, a convent where the nuns and nurses work together as midwives to deliver the babies born in the community. In a time when the lack of birth control meant large families for everyone and a place of wide-spread poverty, the midwives were busy day and night doing their best to support the community. Based on a true story, this series is an INCREDIBLE look at a time that feels much further away than just 60 years. It's fascinating and touching, and you're going to need your hanky. There are six seasons available so far, and at least some episodes are available on Netflix.
Set in the 1880's, this television series introduces us to the inhabitants of the poor hamlet of Lark Rise and more prosperous town of Candleford. The main character is Laura, a Lark Rise girl who's on her way up in the world as the newest employee in Candleford's post office. (The series is actually based on memoirs written by Laura's character.) The show is poetic and picturesque, heartfelt with hints of the grinding poverty so many of the people lived through. I especially appreciate the interactions between Laura's mother and father, who are obviously very much in love but still struggle with the daily business of marriage and raising a family during hard times. Lark Rise to Candleford follows Laura through her "coming of age" years, including her first experiences with love and loss, and boasts a host of engaging supporting characters. The best part? There are FOUR full seasons – so plenty of hours of watch time here.
This is another recent offering from Masterpiece Theater (season 1 aired a few months ago, season 2 will be coming fall 2014). It's based on a novel by Emile Zola about a country girl named Denise who comes to London and ends up landing a job in the Londond's new department store – The Paradise. Denise is the kind of character we all want to love – kind and caring, down to earth, and smart as a whip. Then there are the other characters – her stuffy supervisor who doesn't appreciate being upstaged, the handsome (and somewhat mysterious) owner of the Paradise, the high society heiress who's trying to snare him, and even a sinister one-armed man. Great dialogue, some romance, and a fun peek into the history of the modern department store make this a miniseries not to be missed. (Storyline sounding familiar but you're sure you haven't seen this one yet? It's surprisingly similar in a few plot lines to Mr. Selfridge, another recent Masterpiece Theater miniseries. I far prefer The Paradise, however.)
This Dickens adaptation introduces us to Amy Dorrit, a girl born in Marshelsea, a debtor's prison where her father has lived for years due to unpaid debts. As a young woman she gets a chance to escape the prison during the day by working as a seamstress for a wealthy woman whose very eligible bachelor son has just returned from years at sea (anyone else see where this is going?). However, as with all Dickens' stories there are plenty of twists and turns and up and downs before all is said and done. This is a simply fantastic adaptation with wonderful acting, gorgeous costumes, amazing scenery, etc.
Another series similar to Downton Abbey is Upstairs Downstairs. Not to be confused with the television show from the 70's, this new spin on the classic story chronicles the two groups of people in one posh London house: both the life of the family upstairs and the life of the servants below stairs. This version opens in 1936, not long before England enters the World War II, and the tenuous political atmosphere combined with family secrets and a parade of difficult relatives keeps things interesting. Two seasons are currently available – season 1 has just 3 episodes, but season 2 has 6.
Set at the turn of the century in London, this lesser-known mini-series is a delight. It's about three girls with different backgrounds, each of whom gets a job as a nanny for a different wealthy family living on Berkeley Square. Matty grew up in the tough East End and has worked her way up the domestic ladder, Lydia's fresh off the farm, and Hannah has to leave her own child with another caretaker in order to earn money to survive. 10 one hour episodes chronicle their friendship, struggles, and romantic interests, and you'll want to watch the entire thing in a weekend. The only problem is there's not much resolution at the end of the series – it almost feels like the writers were planning on another season. But it's well worth watching regardless.
After Downton Abbey, this has to be my favorite period piece. Ever. My apologies to Jane AND Colin Firth, but North and South is even better than Pride & Prejudice. Why? Because this book (and resulting miniseries) is more than just a love story. Oh, it's a love story all right – of course! – but there's so much real human life mixed in. Set at the cusp of the industrial revolution, the movie deal revolves around a girl from the agricultural, "civilized" South of England who moves with her parents in recently reduced circumstances to the North, where industry, machines, and the battle to earn money have come to the forefront. Margaret struggles to make sense of her new surroundings and family troubles, eventually figuring out that the world isn't as simple and straitforward as she originally believed. Add in a troubled love story with the owner of the local mill, and there's romance, mystery, questions of ethics, amusing dialogue, real tragedy, and more. You get the picture. I love it. It's just plain good. Plus the leading man – Richard Armitage – is described as "smoldering" on the back of the DVD, which I laughed at when I first read, but yup, he is.
This series is much like Downton Abbey in that it follows the lives of a number of different people in one family, this time the wealthy Forsytes. The series focuses on two brothers, the straight-laced Soames, a solicitor: proper, unyielding, but in love with artistic Irene, and the free-spirited Jolyon, who early in the series leaves an unhappy marriage (and most of his money) to pursue a life of love. Their stories, as well as stories of others in the family, intertwine in a fascinating look at the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This series is a little like a high-brow soap opera, with problems and romances coming and going, but with the feel of real life instead of the shallowness of today's soaps. The subject matter is a little more adult than the other two I've mentioned so far – I'd rate it PG-13 – but the acting is top-notch and the story's compelling. This is a long one, so get ready to clear your schedule for a few afternoons once you get started. (There's also a Series 2 about the next Forsyte generation, which is worth watching, but doesn't hold a candle to the original.)
From IMDB: "In the 1840s, Cranford is ruled by the ladies. They adore good gossip; and romance and change is in the air, as the unwelcome grasp of the Industrial Revolution rapidly approaches their beloved rural market-town." If I told you Cranford was about a group of old ladies you'd probably think: BORING. But it's not. It's about the ladies, yes (Judi Dench is just one of the amazing actresses here), but stories of the entire town are woven together in this very funny and touching miniseries. There's gossip and romance, the old battling the new, love lost and opportunities missed, as well as hope for a happier tomorrow. I'll admit that I loved the dialogue here even more than the storyline, so if you're more interested in a great plot than witty repartee you might be disappointed. But the beauty of the English countryside and the skills of these great British actors (many of whom you'll recognize from other movies) just can't be beat.
The Scarlet Pimpernell
I've loved this movie since I saw it as a ten year old – the Jane Seymour and Anthony Andrews version – and subsequently read the book (which is fantastic!). This story has absolute EVERYTHING – action, romance, history, mystery, mistakes that cost lives, hidden identities, disguises, gorgeous dresses, swoon-worthy sentiments, plus two fabulous actors in the role of leading man and leading lady. It's a romance mixed up with a spy novel, all set against the backdrop of the French Revolution. The 1982 version is my favorite, but the BBC has also released a more recent version (2000) – and get this – there's three parts! That's right, they've created two more movies based on subsequent books, and what's not to love there?
Movies like Downton Abbey
This beloved book has resulted in so many movie remakes I can't even count them all. I loved the 2006 BBC miniseries, but the more recent (2011) Hollywood release has brought new life to this classic story. A poor, orphaned girl graduates from an austere charity school and goes to work as a governess for the young ward of the grim, confusing, but oocasionally warm Mister Rochester. The house is large, gothic, and frightening, as is Rochester at times, but Jane settles in to teaching her young pupil and feels she is growing to understand Rochester's softer side – until it's revealed that nothing is as it seems. The scenery is gorgeous, the music is filled with longing, the actors all do a great job, and the story is told a little differently than it has been before, making this version worth seeing even if you've seen others. It's a movie that keeps you wrapped up in knots the entire time – not letting you relax until the very end, when you let out a big sigh and sit in your chair realize you've been completely transported from your fantastically ordinary life. Or maybe that only happens if you're as big of a dork as I am (my sisters are all laughing at me right now). Anyway, it's another one not to be missed.
Persuasion (1995 version is my fave, 2007 version also good, but less true to the book)
Alright Jane, I apologize for not putting one of your novels at the top of my Period Piece list, but at least you get to be number two. It might suprise some that P&P isn't my favorite Jane Austen novel – it's fantastic, and I truly enjoy a couple of the movie versions that have been made, but Persuasion (which is Austen's last novel) is just a better story. Anne Elliot lost her chance at love years ago when a close family friend persuaded her to break of an alliance with the young sailor Wentworth, claiming he'd never make enough to support a wife. Eight years later Anne is lonely and "past her prime" in the eyes of the world, but making the best of life with a foppish father and two self-centered sisters (the dialogue involving the father and sisters is true Jane Austen – a hilarious and scathing commentary on people who's most pressing worries involve their appearance and status in the world). When the now Captain Wentworth reappears, Anne has to decide whether to risk embarrassment and rejection to try to rekindle the old flame. I love watching Anne's transformation from a girl who's easily swayed by the concerns of others into a woman who can choose to take a risk for love. My favorite part of the movie (and we're talking the 1995 version here) is how much a simple touch or look can convey.
Did I miss any of your favorite movies, shows, or series like Downton Abbey? Tell me in the comments!
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I also enjoyed Mr. Selfridge a lot. It's another Masterpiece Classic. Based on the real Harry Selfridge, an American who started the Selfridges department stores.
autumn says
Season 2 starts up in a month! I'm looking forward to it 🙂
Anita at LiveLikeYouAreRich says
I felt like Mr. Selfridge incorrectly represented the values of that time period. Everyone was sleeping with everyone! His poor wife! It really missed the mark on the modesty and virtue that was so valued in that day. The funniest line of the whole show was the last episode when he said that he was an 'honorable' man. Since when are men honorable who have multiple affairs on a good wife, gamble, drink, smoke, and value business above family? There was a lot of amazing things about the show like the costumes, and set. 20% of it was amazing 80% was immoral garbage that would rival any filthy soap opera on afternoon TV today.
It was the Edwardian Period, which meant a lot of naughty behaviour (thanks to King Edward).
Quite correct. The Victorian period was when mortality was upheld (at least in theory). But it was also the time when at weekend house parties, an occupant's name would be posted on their bedroom door so as to better faciliate hook ups! The myth of a genteel time of morality is greatly overestimated. It continued to get worse after Bertie ascended the throne. Now Queen Alexandra–what a long suffering woman!
My goodness me, as a historian I can tell you it was entirely accurate. People slept around just as much in those days, in fact it was very fashionable for rich men to have mistresses even if happily married. It proved you were wealthy enough to support two (or more) women ! And don't forget, the royal princes always had mistresses and they were role models for the fashionable businessmen of the day.
As an addition to your list – don't forget 'Cranford" – not at all like Downton but a lovely series. There's a new Upstairs Downstairs" as well I see. 🙂
Tiki says
If you didn't like it, why did you watch all three seasons?
Peggy Barnett says
Yes, it was excellent and as I am typing this I can hear the music.
Delina says
Just so you know-you can't watch Downtown Abbey on Netflix anymore 🙁 heard so much about it, wanted to see what it was and found out its gone. You can only find it on Amazon.
Bummer. Thanks for letting us know. I think you can still watch seasons 1-3 on Amazon for free if your have prime. Amazon had a great deal on seasons 1-3 right before Christmas – hopefully next year they'll have a deal on seasons 1-4!
You can watch it online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/
Jilene says
for info, some librarys have Dowton Abbey.
Jodi Behee says
have you tried your local library???
Great list!!!!
If you don't have Netflix or Amazon Prime? Check your local LIBRARY folks, a lot of them have these shows on DVD! Mine does!
Also, "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" is a fantasic aussie series bases on the Phryne Fisher books by Kerry Greenwood.
http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Fishers-Murder-Mysteries-Season/dp/B008KCGQD0/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1393015126&sr=1-4&keywords=Nathan+Page%2C+Hugo+Johnstone-Burt%2C+Ashleigh+Cummings+Essie+Davis
There is Birdsong & Cranford, which are Masterpiece Classics
For 15th century English drama, try "The White Queen" based on Philippa Gregory's series of best-selling novels, "The Cousins War."
http://www.amazon.com/The-White-Queen-Season-One/dp/B00E1LT41K/ref=pd_sim_mov_14?ie=UTF8&refRID=1W5NVPBXMM8GWN8VYH73
Also some good Downton-y movies are:
The Ladies in Lavendar
Hemingway & Gelhorn
Great list! I can't wait to find the ones on here I've never seen – thank you!
I'm excited to see a lot of these as well! Recently, I created a list of the Top 21 shows similar to Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice, if you want to check them out you can here: http://livelikeyouarerich.com/top-21-romantic-movies-similar-to-pride-and-prejudice-and-downton-abbey/
Noni says
I would also highly recommend House of Eliott- set post WW1 England – two sisters who set up a dressmaking business and eventually a fashion house, with all the associated drama.
I've never seen this one! I'm so excited to go find it – thanks!
Helene says
House of Eliott is a very good drama ! You have to see it !
North & South is a great series as well about the industrial period in England. It's a BBC production so has wonderful costumes and actors. The story follows Margaret Hale who moves from the bucolic south to a factory town in the north.
North and South is my absolute favorite! I think I like it even more than Downton or Pride and Prejudice 🙂 I listed in in my first post about period pieces. Thanks for mentioning it here!
Tiffany K says
There's also Wives & Daughters (by Elizabeth Gaskill – same author on North & South and Cranford – fabulous stuff), Bleak House (Dickens) and Land Girls. BTW, couldn't agree with you more on Lark Rise to Candleford – absolute FAV! And it doesn't hurt that Downton's Mr. Bates is one of the primary stars (Brendan Coyle)!
I love Wives & Daughters! I just started watching Land Girls, too. I like it, but not as much as Lark Rise. And I'm with you – I love Brendan Coyle in anything. He's just an amazing actor. Thanks for visiting!
Marissa says
I also loved Bomb Girls, set during world war 2 when women are taking over factory jobs (including building bombs) because all the men are at war. I also love the movies Nanny Mcphee and Nanny Mcphee Returns (my favorite of the two). I think of them as period fairy tales, set in two different time periods but with enough fantasy to make them fun for the whole family.
I've just started watching Bomb Girls – sad and fun at the same time. What a different life it was! I, too, love Nanny McPhee!
The Forsyte Saga- on Netflix- great period drama.
Yep, LOVE Forsytes! Did you like the second installment as well? About the next generation? I thought it wasn't as good as the first (but still fun to watch of course).
The Mean Mama says
Absolutely BBC North & South!! AMAZING, LOVE IT, when my hubby works nights I just rewatch the train scene over and over!
Call the Midwife: Usually I watch shows for the relationships, but the work these ladies did was so fascinating. I was so intrigued I went and got the books to see how much was memoir and what was created, totally accurate, the only differences I noticed were small, combining two similar stories, adjusting the number of children, etc. very minor.
The tidbit I got from the book that I found most impressive is that the little boy that Chummy won over in the course of learning to ride a bike served as her 'bodygaurd' from the other bully children, and as an adult was on the security team for Princess Diana. So interesting.
My mother in law tells me I MUST read the book Call The Midwife was based on. I think this show is absolutely fascinating. And yes, North + South is my most favorite – the train scene! Here's a funny story: when I first checked it out to watch I was laughing to my husband because the snippet on the back calls the male lead "smoldering" and I thought that was just kind of a ridiculous way to describe an actor. But I'll admit it: I knew what they meant by the end of the film! 🙂
I just recently discovered North and South and I am currently obsessed! I watch the train scene ALL THE TIME! His smile just melts my heart every single time.
Oh, the train scene! It's it the best? He's so intimidating-looking through most of the movie, and then when he smiles at her his whole look changes – it's just about the best movie scene of all time 🙂
What about Bleak House, Doc Martin, the Bletchley Circle.
Great shows too.
Good additions! I love quirky Doc Martin. I've never seen the Bletchley Circle, though – a new one for my list to watch!
So many great suggestions here! I've seen most of them and for sure Call the Midwife is a recent favorite. Someone suggested Gosford Park already but I thought I'd just mention that it was actually written by Julian Fellowes (who is the writer and creator of Downton) so you'll definitely see similarities there. Being a "murder mystery" the vibe is very different and it takes place it the 30s but it's a good one if you like his style.
Cool – thanks for the info! I discovered last year Julian Fellowes has also written some novels and I read one. I liked it, but didn't love it – but I want to read another one by him. Thanks!
Love all the above listed shows. Also, The Grand, a BBC show about a hotel at the turn of the 20th century, London Hospital reminds me of House meets Downton, Great Expectations, Tess of the D'urburvilles and Wuthering Heights (all BBC) are fabulous. Lark Rise is one of my all time favorites!
A lot of good suggestions! Many I've seen and loved and some just added to my watchlist! 🙂
I have a couple to add:
Persusion (The 2007 version with Sally Hawkins – it is amazing)
Also my all time fav is Jane Eyre (the 2006 mini series with Ruth Wilson).
Lexy says
I'm gonna suggest a period series of a completely different subject that I recently started watching and I simply LOVE! It's The Murdoch Mysteries. As you can probably imagine it's a police show but it's set in Toronto in the 1890's. I am completely in love with this show. For people who like any of those police/detective shows out there, this is gonna be super interesting. It's a time when new forensic techniques have only recently been discovered or are being discovered, along with some other inventions like motorized vehicles and such. Aaaand of course there's romance too =).
I totally recommend this series!
I'm totally going to check this out – I've never heard of it! Thanks!
Omg. I was reading the comments hoping someone said something about William Murdoch. Need to do more seasons!!
TKTanner says
I might get shot down as my suggestion, as it's not a period show, but it is still by BBC Scotland . . . it's called "Monarch of the Glen" and it's a wonderfully light, excellently casted, fun drama, set in early 2000. It's not a comedy, but the characters are easily identifiable. that you grow to first like and then to love them, some more than others. My personal favorite is Hector, he makes the show! I found DVD's at my local library, there are 7 "series" or seasons.
They stopped making this series in 2005, so the website is still up, but not updated.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/tv/monarch/index.shtml
My mom was just telling me she loves this show! I'll have to give it a try – thanks!
I loved Monarch of the Glen. I was so sad when I was done watching. But them I found Downton. I'm almost obsessed with BBC period dramas. Thanks for the extensive list, and comments with other suggestions.
Absolutely love Monarch of the Glen! Susan Hampshire still shines!
Don't forget The Grand as well!
mk says
"Bleak House" Starring Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance, Alun Armstrong, Ian Richardson, Nathaniel Parker, Richard Griffiths, Phil Davis, Joanna David and Carey Mulligan.
This series will suck you in! Great mystery and superb production. Not sure if Netflix has it
I can't believe I haven't seen this yet! Adding it to my list 🙂
Kathy Nelson says
I've seen the second season of The Paradise, and I'm sorry to say it really goes downhill. I finished it, but wish I hadn't wasted my time. Mr. Selfridge is SO much better (although I fought watching it for a long time because I'm not a fan of Jeremy Piven). After the 5th episode I was completely hooked!
Everyone has listed most of my favorites (I almost exclusively watch British shows because there aren't many American shows that are up to par). I can add a couple though. The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton (I just LOVE JJ Feild – be sure to check him out in Austenland if you haven't seen it. It's a fun romp), and Merlin (now one of my favorite shows of all time! It has a great bromance as well as romance – the second season really gets things going). And speaking of bromance, even though it's not a period piece, Sherlock is amazing! So well written and the actors are fabulous!!!
Oh, I'm so anxious to see the second season of The Paradise! That's too bad to hear you didn't like it. I am excited that season 2 of Mr Selfridge starts soon. I'll have to look for the Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton – I love the other shows you mentioned – my kids loved watching Merlin with me! And Sherlock is one of the only PBS/BBC shows I can get my husband to watch with me – he loves it!
I LOVE Merlin. Easily one of my favorite shows. I hated the.ending though…. I also enjoy reign and the Tudors (it gets raunchy) but I love period shows with kings and queens and stuff like that.
henrietta says
I have enjoyed the Catherine Cookson novels (available, I believe on YT) such as A Dinner of Herbs, Tilly Trotter, A Dwelling Place, The Black Candle, Fifteen Streets, The Rag Nymph, The Girl (and more that you can find online). Cookson is a great author. Wilkie Collins, Woman in White, is also a good movie (on YT, two different versions). I have a library of good period dramas. I ALWAYS watch them before I purchase. Such a great selling point for YT, if they would allow us to watch them. I have every Jane Austen adaptation I could find. NORTH and SOUTH is my ALL TIME favorite period drama (BBC version).
Enchanted April was delightful! I purchased the entire set of the first version of Upstairs/Downstairs. It is a HUGE set, and I love it. I could not even get through the newer version, which did a nose dive after a few episodes. Pure filth, calling itself a period drama. Couldn't watch, let alone purchase it. Road to Avonlea was absolutely delightful! I purchased the entire series on DVD after watching. I could go on and on. My library is growing, but I refuse to buy trash! I want to hand down this library to my children/grandchildren, and no one wants to pass on trash.
Then there's Mill on the Floss, Dog of Flanders, Widow's Peak, I mention "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont" even tho it's not a period drama, as such, it is a very enjoyable, decent and heart-warming story, starring Joan Plowright. I don't believe I have seen anyone mention "Middlemarch." I LOVED Middlemarch and had to purchase it for my library. I could go on an on. I have gotten some good ideas on here, and hope to check them out. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE period dramas.
If you love these shows, you will also probably love "Land Girls"! It's a wonderful show and I was so bummed when it was all over.
Natalie Christensen says
I don't think anyone has added "Under the Greenwood Tree", it's a great movie and fits with all the others that you've talked about.
Thank you all so very much – I am off to catch up on all this wonderful information.
Adeline says
Great list, thanks ! I have just finished watching Downton Abbey Season 4 and I am glad to have found ideas for next shows to follow !
Personnally I am also very fond of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, taking place in Melbourne in the 1920s. Maybe not the best plots ever:) but the characters, the various locations and social/historical themes in each episode, the music and the costumes are delightful. And it is really nice to have a smart, glamorous and free-minded female leading character for once !
Treasures By Brenda says
Great ideas, some that I have seen and some that I have not. Always looking for new ideas.
Debbie Patty says
no one mentioned it but i really liked the buccaneers
That's a great one and I totally forgot about it – thanks for mentioning it!
Another one that is definitely 'period', but not at all Downton-ish, is the BBC version of Robin Hood from a few years ago. I add it because it happens to co-star the oh-so-delicious Richard Armitage from North & South. (Playing the leather-clad bad guy, no less!) I will warn you it's a bit slow to start, but picks up after the first couple of episodes. And the last season is purely awful. It's a fun show if you leave all sense of reality at the door. 😉
Yup, that about sums up exactly what I think of Robin Hood (including R.A. – although I did wish he'd wash his hair every so often 🙂 We actually watched this one with our kids and they loved it!
Maxie Goulet says
I don't think anyone has mentioned, "Father Brown Mysteries." I enjoyed those!
I recommend The Aristocrats about 4 sisters. I found it at my local library. It is based on a true story. Great period costumes.
My husband and I both love Call the Midwife, though we found Downton Abbey a bit risque. Can't wait to check out the others! thank you1
Wives & Daughters, and Bletchley Circle was great.
Judy lockhaRt says
I have been watching, and very much enjoying, "Last Tango in Halifax." Bletchley Circle and Midwives are great too..
I loved Bletchley Circle. Even my husband liked it. It is about the women who worked at Bletchly Circle during WWII, and their experiences post WWII solving crime using their incredible intellect.
Also I was more impressed with the second season of Mr. Selfridge. (And if you have read/watched anything about the real mr selfride, BBC is doing a pretty good job accurately portraying him-and all his shortcomings.)
Land Girls is another great one to watch.
And two that I don't thing qualify as period pieces, but are awesome, Merlin and Sherlock.
I liked the second season of Selfridge MUCH better, too! I loved seeing more from all the other characters, and it certainly was nice to see Selfridge and his wife be happy together.
Love both Merlin and Sherlock!
I'm not entirely sure where I watched this, but I recently viewed "Death Comes to Pemberly." At first, I was leary to watch it because of the title…but I was pleasantly surprised that it was a great little mini series/show. I might have seen it on one of those "streaming" websites or something. I know that I watched it on my laptop..just not too sure of what website. It's worth trying to find, though!
katB says
Land girls is another great one set during war time about the women's land army and how the women had to take over at home on the farms while men were at war. Great production.
I love "When Calls the Heart" on Hallmark channel. First season is on Amazon. Second season begins May 2015. Set in Western Canada in 1910.
Annette J says
I loved the show, too, but can't find a continuation after season 2, where she is proposed to by both men. A real cliffhanger. Do you know where I can get it?
Doc Martin, and Monarch of the Glen. Monarch is a modern day Downton. The efforts and problems a 21st century family faces to keep the estate alive. Doc is just a good show! =)
I have watched The Duchess of Duke Street many times and love it to this day. If you love a great series about Rome we own a copy of I. Claudus with Derek Jacoby. This is an old series but produced by the BBC and it is wonderful. We love The Grand, Doc Martin, Lark Rise to Candleford, and are looking so forward to the next season of Downton Abbey.
Brie says
These all look very interesting!! Thank you!
Also, for those who want to watch Downton Abbey, go to the website couchtuner.com
Click on any downton video and click the x in the corner (because its an add) and then click play. I watched up to the recent episode there!! ^^
Tina McLane says
I also loved Dutchess of Duke Street. Another great one is Cranford with Judi Dench- incredible acting and attention to detail.
Michael John Lyons says
Was pretty proud of myself for getting addicted to Downton…alas, it won out and I completely binged for three straight days…then got hooked on the new Upstairs Downstairs…love BBC.
I recently came across this amazing little show from Australia called Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. It is really quite enjoyable, based in the 1920's, the title character returns to Brisbane and ends up helping to solve the mysteries that pop up. Its quite witty and I believe available on American Netflix. Canada also has a great show, Murdoch's Mysteries, based in the early 1900's of Toronto. Quite fun and the lead is quite handsome. I believe they are already in their 6th or 7th season.
Kimberly Gramlich says
So, I have watched most of these and they are ALL AMAZING! I have a suggestion that is both comparable and a little out of the box, it is called Grand Hotel or Gran Hotel…it is on Netflix and is in Spanish, but you read the subtitles, and it is sooooooo wonderful that I don't even realize that I am reading it after a minute or two. Seriously, even my husband loves this show, and he is not much for period pieces. Also on Netflix are the following that I thoroughly enjoyed: Island at War, The Bletchley Circle, Bomb Girls, Bleak House & Land Girls. Hope you find time to watch them…it's my "me time" when the kids are sleeping!
Holy mackerel, I do LOVE this show! It keeps you on your toes, watching AND reading, but it is completely engrossing. My kids say, "Oh, are you watching your Spanish show?" and leave me alone. It's beautifully filmed and costumed, and the actors are great! Just a note for those who haven't seen it: It's from Spain, in Europe. I don't think I had ever seen anything from there!
Danny Adams says
Lark Rise to Candleford also has the extra benefit of being an almost true story – it's based on the early 20th century autobiographical novels of Flora Thompson.
Foyle's War is worth waching
Jane HILLIS says
BOMB Girls is excellent…slightly risque but very very good!!!
We also love Mr Selfridge! 🙂
Sad that Downton has come to an end. Watching Doc Martin, but reading these comments has me excited to begin watching these others. Don't know where to start.
Erika says
Hi!! I'm sure you will love The time in between (Spanish) it's beautiful!!! I love it!! i also like Call the midwife, El Gran Hotel, Mr. Selfridge, Velvet, Downton Abbey
Willow and Thatch says
I loved Berkeley Square – what a nice suggestion. And here is a list of over 100 period dramas with the Downton Abbey cast. Enjoy! http://www.willowandthatch.com/costume-dramas-like-downton-abbey/
Any Catherine Cookson movie…they're awesome!
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more period pieces to watch if you love Downton Abbey – It's Always Autumn
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The First National Source of Mining, Energy, Oil and Gas News
March 23, 2017 March 23, 2017 Mozambique Resources Post
Africa Mining: Angola holds large deposits of copper and cobalt
Cooper smelting
The region rich in copper and cobalt in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo extends to the Angolan territory by at least 116,000 square kilometres, according to the geophysical survey carried out as part of Angola's National Geology Plan (Planageo) the Minister for Geology and Mining said on Wednesday in Luanda.Francisco Queiroz said Planageo had discovered the Cunene ornamental rock complex with an area of 45,000 square kilometres, covering the provinces of Huila and Cunene and extending into Namibia.
"The magnetic anomalies detected by Planageo show favourable signs for exploration of metallic and non-metal minerals such as iron, diamonds, copper, manganese, titanium, zinc, lead, bauxite and even radioactive minerals and phosphates," he said.
The minister, who was speaking at the proclamation ceremony of the Angolan Association of Geosciences and Support for the Oil Sector (AEAGSAP), said that, taking into account the results of Planageo, the government had launched a campaign to attract world-scale investors.
"We are hopeful that in the medium term, these investors will have a positive impact on changing the economic base of the country," said the Minister of Geology and Mining.
Queiroz said mining investment funds should also be set up for the active participation of Angolan businessmen in mining investment, involving partnerships with foreign investors.
The implementation of Planageo cost the Angolan state 40.5 billion kwanzas (225.8 million euros), and its implementation was awarded to the consortium made up of Impulso Industrial Alternativo, Spain's Geological and Mining Institute and Portugal's National Energy and Geology Laboratory. (source: macauhub)
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Posts tagged with 'national policy'
Climate Action Must Progress Far Faster to Achieve 1.5 C Goal
By Katie Lebling, Kelly Levin, Louise Jeffery, Dan Plechaty, Mengpin Ge, Johannes Friedrich and Richard Waite on November 20, 2020
Countries agreed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) and ideally 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The latest science shows that emissions will need to drop ...
Mexico's 'Right to Mobility' Amendment Could Shift Road Safety Discourse and Save Thousands of Lives
By Darío Hidalgo on November 2, 2020
In a groundbreaking move for national road safety policy, Mexico has elevated to their constitution a universal right to safe mobility. On October 14, the country's Chamber of Deputies unanimously voted in favor of adding an amendment to Mexico's constitution: ...
How Oslo Achieved Zero Pedestrian and Bicycle Fatalities, and How Others Can Apply What Worked
By Anders Hartmann and Sarah Abel on October 13, 2020
In 2015, the City of Oslo, Norway, made a commitment after years of rising transportation injuries to reduce car traffic and prioritize the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and the environment. Unlike in the United States and other countries where transportation ...
6 Keys to Turn Coastal Resilience Plans into Action
By Stefanie Tye, Jacob Waslander and Nadia Peimbert-Rappaport on September 29, 2020
Cyclone Amphan slammed into countries surrounding the Sea of Bengal this May. The storm was the second most powerful the region has seen in two decades, affecting over 12 million people in four countries. In Bangladesh, the water surged up to 4 ...
3 Lessons from China's Rocket Growth in Electric Vehicles
By Xiangyi Li, Shiyong Qiu and Ge Shi on August 5, 2020
As people stay home and city streets turn quiet, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global vehicle market. While many urban experts fear a turn to personal cars in lieu of public transport, few people so far are actually purchasing ...
Colombia's New National Urban Mobility Policy Is Mostly a Good Thing
By Darío Hidalgo on May 21, 2020
In the midst of COVID-19 precautions that have curtailed movement around the world, Colombia has released a new national road map for urban and regional mobility. It sends a powerful policy message that cities are saved by providing adequate access ...
Walking the Talk: What Can We Learn from Germany's New Pedestrian Policy Framework?
By Claudia Adriazola-Steil and Alejandro Schwedhelm on February 20, 2020
Walking, as simple as it is, is key to many current urban issues. As car ownership grows, people are walking less and becoming less physically active generally, especially adolescents, more than 80% of whom are insufficiently active. The impacts are ...
Greening at Altitude: Bogotá Makes National Building Codes a Local Reality with the Help of Some Friends
By Shannon Hilsey Choy, Emma Stewart and Cristina Gamboa on May 11, 2018
As countries around the world ramp up ambition toward global climate and development goals, Bogotá's experience is an example of why they should look to cities for "ground-truthing." At 8,600 feet above sea level, high on an Andean plateau, Bogotá is Colombia's largest city and one ...
By Leah Lazer on May 7, 2018
More and more, cities are acting independently of – or even in direct opposition to – their national governments. This trend is seen, for example, in the group of American "Climate Mayors" that remain committed to the Paris Agreement even ...
New Transited-Oriented Development Policy Has Big Implications for India's Cities
By Prerna Vijaykumar Mehta and Merlyn Mathew on August 23, 2017
India's burgeoning cities are famous the world over for their startling vibrancy – and, sometimes, their startling problems. A new national policy, enshrining more transit-friendly development principles, aims to steer urban planning in the world's largest democracy towards more compact ...
Live from Habitat III: National Policy, Local Empowerment and Climate Change
By Katherine Peinhardt and Talia Rubnitz on October 19, 2016
WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities is reporting on Habitat III from Quito, Ecuador. Follow our daily coverage on TheCityFix. Habitat III, the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, officially began on Monday, October 17th in ...
Improving Street Lighting Can Be an Easy Win for Cities. Here's Why National Governments Are Critical
By Rodrigo Villarroel Walker on March 14, 2016
Lighting represents about 15 percent of global power consumption and 5 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Street lighting alone represents about 3 percent of world electricity consumption. Extensive programs that replace obsolete street lighting systems—incandescent, mercury vapor, and ...
How Policy Integration Can Enable Sustainable Urban Energy
By Rodrigo Villarroel Walker and Benoit Lefevre on July 13, 2015
While cities need to address energy and climate challenges, national governments can play a critical role in enabling local action. As ministers from 23 countries highlighted at the Clean Energy Ministerial in Merida, Mexico last May, national governments can provide ...
California's Policy Model to Reduce Oil Use and Vehicle Emissions
By Erin Cooper on November 3, 2011
Despite having continual governing issues, budget problems and high employment, California has been a leader in developing policy to address climate change. Dan Sperling, discussing California's leadership in vehicle emissions standards at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace at an ...
New Competition: Visualizing Transport Data for Sound Policy and Investments
By Itir Sonuparlak on October 17, 2011
The United States Department of Transportation and the Transportation Research Board are sponsoring a data visualization competition, understanding that informed decision-making, based on sound data and analysis, is the cornerstone in crafting effective transportation policies and investments. The competition is ...


One of the first things I ever learned to cook was a sage & onion omelette, as my Mum used to make them for me when I was little and they are really easy to make. I don't entirely know where the idea originally came from, but to me this was just always a totally normal thing to eat and one of my favourite things to eat.
Grease a frying pan with a small amount of oil or cooking spray such as Frylight.
Crack the eggs into a jug and beat.
Add the stuffing mix and beat again until well combined.
Heat the pan over a medium heat and then add the egg mixture.
Leave to cook for a few minutes on a medium heat until you can no longer see any runny egg.
Use a spatula to flip the omelette and continue to cook for about 30 second just to brown the other side.


John Riley is 80 years old and has spent almost all of them in Sutherland Springs, Texas. As he drives his pickup truck just a few blocks away from the First Baptist Church, the scene of Sunday's shooting, he says he still can't get his head around the fact that a tragedy of this magnitude could ever happen in such a small, rural community.
"It's unreal. It is unbelievable," he said. The whole community, located some 30 miles (48 kilometers) outside of San Antonio, is still grappling with what happened.
Riley had once belonged to the church, although he hadn't been there in decades. He still lives just down the street, which has now been cordoned off by police.
Riley may be an outlier in this small community where gun ownership is common. Although he owns a deer rifle and comes from a family of deer hunters, he believes that assault-type weapons should be banned in the US.
"No individual should own assault rifles," he said. While he does believe that other arms, such as deer rifles or shotguns, should be allowed, "all this assault mess, it needs to be taken away," he said.
Billy Morgan was visiting a close friend whose relative lost family members in the shooting. However, he's not convinced that taking people's guns away is the solution to the latest in a series of mass shootings in the US. "It's not the gun… I mean it is the gun, but it is really the person behind it," he said.
Still, Morgan admits that "everyone's pretty shook up." Why in a church? Why on a Sunday? "You don't think about things like this in a little town in the middle of nowhere," he said.
Asked about whether he thinks the current cycle of violence will continue or subside, Morgan said he could imagine more "chaos in the coming few months or years," but then, he hopes, things will calm down again — at least, in Sutherland Springs. "It's really quiet here. Everybody knows everybody."
Michelle Timburt is rushing into one of the two convenience stores in Sutherland Springs to pick up some groceries before going back to feed her horses. She had tears in her eyes as she told how the owner of the home schooling organization where she had just started teaching was a member of First Baptist Church. The owner had homeschooled many of the children who were shot in the massacre, and even knew the alleged shooter.
But Timburt also said that her boss had told her how many of the churchgoers have licenses to carry concealed weapons. They just didn't happen to be at church that day. "If they were," she said, "this would have been over far quicker."


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New recruits join Islamic State in Syria's Aleppo: monitor
Reuters September 26, 2014
Syrians check a damaged house, reportedly hit by US-led coalition air strikes, in the village of Kfar Derian in the western Aleppo province on September 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/Sami Ali)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - More than 200 fighters have joined Islamic State in Syria's northern Aleppo province since U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States would strike the militant group in Syria, a monitoring group said on Friday.
U.S.-led forces launched air strikes on Syria on Tuesday, concentrating raids on the north and east to loosen Islamic State's grip on Syria's oil and its presence along the border with Iraq.
At least 162 people joined the radical al Qaeda offshoot in northeast and eastern Aleppo in the week after Obama's speech on Sept. 10, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers information on the conflict.
Islamic State has put particular pressure on rival insurgent groups in this part of Aleppo.
An additional 73 men had joined the group on Sept. 23 and 24 in the northeast Aleppo countryside since the start of the strikes, the Observatory said, bringing the total number since Sept. 10 to at least 235.
"This means these people are not scared. Even if there are air strikes, they still join," said Rami Abdelrahman, who runs the Observatory.
He said the pace of recruitment in September was higher than average but below the surge in July, after Islamic State declared a caliphate in the territory it controlled in Syria and Iraq and called on Muslims to join a holy war.
Most of the new men came from al Qaeda's Syrian wing, the Nusra Front, and were mostly Syrian, the Observatory said. The men who joined in the week after Obama's speech included 15 nationalities, it added.
Islamic State recruited at a record pace in July, according to the Observatory, which counted at least 6,300 new members that month, a big expansion from earlier estimates suggesting the group numbered around 15,000. Around 1,000 of the new fighters were foreign, and the rest Syrian.
Before air strikes this week, Islamic State was believed to hold roughly a third of Syria and large areas of Iraq, where U.S.-led forces have also carried out strikes.
In Syria, Islamic State has seized territory from rival Islamist groups in a belt of territory north of Aleppo, threatening rebel supply lines into the city.
(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by Andrew Roche)
Lindsey Graham on criticism of Trump: 'I don't remember John McCain having to go through this crap'
Cyprus new route for migrants prepared to 'die at sea'
Former President Barack Obama surprises students in Chicago
WTVD – Raleigh/Durham
This Abortion Drug Is Safe And Effective. Why Can't You Buy It In A Pharmacy?


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Luqmani Thompson & Partners win in European Court of Justice
06.06.2013 – Rakesh Singh, solicitor at Luqmani Thompson & Partners, has succeeded on behalf of a client before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
Luqmani Thompson & Partners acted for a French national who was permanently resident in the UK but who was excluded from the country for national security reasons. He appealed against the decision. Our client was not made aware of the national security case against him and he therefore did not have an opportunity to raise an effective defence. This approach was upheld by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in the UK. The case was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union which decided that the state must disclose the full and precise grounds which are the basis of the national security case against an EU national or, if the state can prove that disclosure would be contrary to the interests of national security, it must disclose the essence of the grounds against the EU national.
The full reported case can be found here.
Rakesh has been nominated in the immigration category for Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2013.


Multi-purpose thin Soundproof acoustic insulation for individual housing and domestic applicance industry applications.
Armacell has designed the Soundproofing product ArmaComfort® especially for private homes. By offering four different products, Armacell delivers a solution for noise protection and sound proofing to increase comfort. ArmaComfort® tiles are pre-cut and ready to use.


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The Ghost Inside – The Ghost Inside
Sam Dignon
Vocals: 9/10
Lyrics: 9/10
Songwriting: 8/10
Pros: Raw and emotional | An incredible and uplifting end to a tragic story
Cons: Nothing
When we talk about comeback stories, few are as inspiring as the story of The Ghost Inside. Their horrific bus crash from 2015 has been well documented and left the band sidelined until their live comeback last year. Given the injuries they suffered being able to play again seemed nothing short of a miracle. Now the next chapter of the band begins with the release of their new, self titled album.
It is undeniable that the accident is a huge influence on the album but it's not something the band want to let define them. When such a traumatic event happens to you it's impossible to not let it come through in the art you create, but the album also sees them trying to look beyond the accident. One thing that is immediately clear is how musically this album has The Ghost Inside picking up right where they left off. The albums opening of 1333 and Still Alive will feel so familiar to fans. The shout along gang vocals and mosh call slogans. The hefty guitar tone and beatdowns. It's all here with even more emotional weight behind it.
These opening two songs are some of the explicit references to the crash. 1333 main hook of "TGI, From the ashes brought back to life" almost feels like the mission statement for the album. Still Alive also deals heavily with the impact the crash had on them but takes on an almost optimistic look at it. "Against all odds, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" captures exactly how the band view themselves as survivors. They don't want to always been seen as victims of what happened, they've come through the other side. This track also shares some lyrics with the closing track Aftermath in a way that bookends the album nicely.
The rest of the album feels less explicit, feeling much closer to what The Ghost Inside were doing on Dear Youth. They have always been about powerful and emotional metalcore. That emotion has even more impact this time round. There is so much sincerity to Jonathan Vigil's vocals on every second of this album. Tracks such as The Outcast also show how the crash has influenced their worldview without explicitly referencing it. Lyrically this track criticises the bands own ignorance to a lot of what was going on around them.
As for the quality of the songs individually, this album absolutely features some of The Ghost Inside's best material. Pressure Point is possibly the heaviest track the band have ever released and suggests they might have been paying attention to what has been going in hardcore during their absence. The guitar tone has some of the ferocity that has got bands like Vein noticed. There's also an increased use of melody this time and it's the best this element of the band has ever been. One Choice features possibly the catchiest chorus the band have come out with. The tempo change on this track is also one of the best moments on this album.
Every member of The Ghost Inside has thrown their all into this album. Given the story behind it they could have released something with a fraction of the quality this has and people still would have lapped it up. But instead the band set out to release their definitive piece of work. If The Ghost Inside decided to never come back after the crash, no one would have blamed them. But instead they have returned stronger than ever, looking to start a new chapter in their career. I think they sum it up best as Aftermath closes the album: "Yesterday is gone, but the beat goes on".
The Ghost Inside, the new self-titled album, is released today, June 5th 2020 on Epitaph Records. Pick up the album and associated merch at their UK and EU online shop.
That's Not Metal Podcast co-host. Genderless mosh gremlin / princess. They/Them
Architects – The Classic Symptoms Of A Broken Spirit
Parkway Drive – Darker Still
The Ghost Inside w/ Our Hollow Our Home & Dragged Under – Live Photo Gallery From 02 Academy Brixton, London, 18th June 2022
Download Festival 2022 – Thursday / Friday Review
Download Festival 2022 Add 70 Bands Including KoRn, Deftones, Megadeth & Funeral For A Friend
Architects – For Those That Wish To Exist
Architects Drop Video For Dead Butterflies – New Single Out Now
Touche Amore – Lament
The Ghost Inside Part Ways With Bassist Jim Riley
The Ghost Inside Return With Emotional Single Aftermath, Announce New Self-Titled Album
Rock Sins Weekly Episode 7: The Return of Down, The Ghost Inside, Ozzy and More
Remo Drive – Natural, Everyday Degradation


The price of the game is €50 (VAT included) per team of 2-5 people, and €60 (VAT included) per team of 6 people.
Please, contact us at info@thexdoormalaga.com in order to talk about the possibilities and limitations to playing.
Please, if you wish to cancel your reservation, notify us as soon as possible at info@thexdoormalaga.com in order to free your turn. State your name, and surnames and the date and time of the reservation.


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Fact Sheet: Fourth North Korean Nuclear Weapons Test
(Click here for PDF version)
On January 5, the state media of North Korea announced that Pyongyang carried out its first underground test of a hydrogen bomb.
This was North Korea's fourth nuclear weapons test and the first test since 2013.
Experts are skeptical of North Korea's claim that it detonated a hydrogen bomb. The test created an artificial earthquake of magnitude 5.1, comparable to the 2013 test. Hydrogen bombs, on the other hand, can produce explosions hundreds and thousands of times larger.
The North Korea Nuclear Threat:
While North Korea's latest test has been met with skepticism, it is not insignificant. Every nuclear test can provide the critical data necessary to advance a nuclear program.
The status of North Korea's nuclear arsenal is uncertain, though some analysts estimate it is comprised of between 10 and 20 weapons.
North Korea has not yet tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.
North Korea has not yet demonstrated the ability to shrink a nuclear warhead to fit atop a ballistic missile and has yet to create a reliable, accurate delivery system, or a warhead that can handle the stresses of flight.
How to Reduce the Threat:
Time is not on our side. The current strategy of sanctions and harsh rhetoric has failed to influence North Korea's calculus. North Korea will continue to develop its nuclear capabilities until they produce a credible nuclear deterrent, emboldening its bad behavior.
The United States and China should coordinate efforts to increase pressure on North Korea, particularly though sanctions.
However, sanctions alone will not halt North Korea's progress. The United States should join China in calling to restart the Six Party Talks between the Koreas, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States, which have stalled since 2008.
The talks should be restarted with the initial purpose of establishing a freeze on North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear testing. The diplomatic process can then work to set terms for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
These talks have stalled in part because the United States has demanded that North Korea agree to its denuclearization pledges from 2005 in advance of the talks. While the purpose of the talks should remain denuclearization, the United States should remove its preconditions and allow the diplomatic process to begin.
Congress should reinforce its nuclear non-proliferation tools by strengthening the Missile Technology Control Regime, fully funding its own Defense Nuclear Non-proliferation programs, and reconsidering the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which would outlaw nuclear testing by signatories and preserve the extensive monitoring network of sensors used to detect tests.


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Travel Industry Continues to Rebound in 2022 With 32% Growth on Start.io Platform
NEW YORK, January 18, 2023 (Newswire.com) - 2022 saw an increase of 250 million smartphone users, bringing the total number to nearly 6.6 billion smartphone subscribers worldwide. More people than ever are using their smartphones for almost all of their interactions and transactions. In 2022, two-thirds of mobile users said they couldn't make it through the day without their devices.
An analysis of Start.io mobile data in 2022 supports this phenomenon. People are not just using their phones for the typically popular categories of chat, gaming and social media. Indeed, mobile is where people engage in everyday lifestyle commodities, such as food deliveries, financial services and more.
Here's a roundup of the notable mobile user behavior trends over the past year that may influence the advertising strategies of mobile marketers as 2023 starts.
Travel: The travel industry continues to rebound. Consumers showed increased interest in travel, reflected in 32% growth on the Start.io mobile platform, making it one of the fast-growing categories in 2022.
Transport Services: Transport service apps were strong in 2022, also showing 32% growth. Existing transport services were keen to expand this past year, and alternative transport modes, such as bicycle rental and ride-sharing, are also growing in popularity.
Food: The Food category continues to be a strong performer, one of the most rapidly commoditized industries on mobile. Increased competition for shorter delivery times makes it a tight game for food delivery services and restaurants. In 2022, the Food apps category increased by 29%, with continued growth expected in 2023.
Fitness: Consumers appear to be keeping up with the health and fitness habits developed during the pandemic. In 2022, there was 29% growth in the Fitness category, a considerable increase compared to 2021.
Finance: Economic uncertainty has driven more interest in personal finance, reflected in 22% growth in the Finance apps category in 2022. Consumers are using their smartphones for banking, money transfers, financial planning and tracking.
Sports: The Sports category is always popular, and in 2022, significant growth can be attributed to the World Cup. Mobile usage for sports entertainment and sports news grew 17% in the past year.
News: 2022 was a busy year for news, including the Ukraine War, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the U.S. midterm elections and more. Year-on-year growth for the News category on the Start.io platform stood at 14%, while 51% of mobile users showed interest in News in 2022.
According to the Deloitte Insights 2022 Connectivity and Mobile Trends report, "Smartphones are the 'universal remote' of our digital lives."
This is borne out by mobile data from the Start.io platform, garnered from 500K active integrated apps and 2.4 billion monthly active users. An analysis of 2022 data shows that mobile phones are becoming ever more essential to consumers, in every aspect of living.
Explore more audience data from the Start.io platform, across 500+ niches and locations, at the Consumer Insights and Audiences Hub.
Source: Start.io
Categories: Mobile and Smart Phones, Advertising, Advertising and Public Relations, Marketing
Tags: 2022 analysis, advertising strategy, audience data, mobile data, mobile marketers, mobile trends, mobile users, Start.io, year in review
About Start.io
Start.io is a mobile marketing and audience platform that is reinventing mobile marketing by leveraging the largest independent app distribution. Start.io's direct integration with over 500K monthly active apps provides access to unprecedented levels of global first-party data, which can be leveraged to understand and predict behaviors, identify new opportunities, and fuel growth.
Maya Carmely
oi.trats@ylemrac.ayam
Start.io
584 Broadway st. (1206)
Start.io Partners With Pixalate to Validate Compliance Against Ad Fraud on Its Mobile Programmatic Platform
Start.io creates an additional layer of ad fraud protection, transparency, and measurement
Start.io - Jan 9, 2023
Start.io Partners with Nimbus to Maximize Mobile App Monetization with In-App Bidding Direct Integration
Start.io - Dec 19, 2022
Start.io: 3X Argentinian Fans Compared to France Fans Expected on Sunday


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"I, for one, welcome our new blue-eyed overlords"
One of the amusing aspects of Matthew Yglesias's blog is his 1966 liberal obsession with the superiority of the Blue-Eyed Utopias of Northwestern Europe. Each week he puts up a half-dozen or so posts on the general theme of "They do it better in Spitzbergen." For example, here's the opening of today's essay on "Postal Service in Scandinavia."
When considering a policy issue like the quality of mail delivery it's often intriguing to ask oneself "how is this done in Scandinavia?" What appears to be the case is that the government of Denmark quasi-privatized its postal services, creating an independent corporation called Post Danmark that's partially owned by a private equity firm, partially owned by the firm's employees, and partially owned by the Danish state.
Meanwhile, Sweden has a state-run postal agency but a deregulated market in postal services. So the state-owned Posten AB needs to compete with a firm called Bring CityMail. Bring CityMail operates as a private company in Denmark and Sweden, but it's actually a subsidiary of the Norwegian state postal service. Meanwhile, in order to better compete with this Norwegian juggernaut, Sweden's publicly owned postal service and Denmark's semi-public postal service are merging to form Posten Norden AB. This is going to be organized as a private firm, though a large share of the ownership will be in the hands of the Danish and Swedish governments.
Hmmhmmhmm ... There must be some common denominator among the postal systems of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark that makes them so good. Obviously, the reason for the difference in quality of postal service between Scandinavia and the Brown-Eyed Dystopias such as Italy, with their excessive clutter of paintings, statues, and other useless junk, must be some wonkish detail in organizational structure.
The Twitter-Facebook Gap
The revelation that yesterday's outages of Twitter and Facebook may have been due to Russian distributed denial of service attacks on a blogger in Tbilsi, Georgia blogger raises disturbing questions about whether America's 56,200 troops in Germany are sufficient in number and are based close enough to potential Facebook Fronts to safeguard vital American Twittering interests.
By Steve Sailer on 8/07/2009 28 comments Labels: foreign policy
Trimming the cost of the Empire
Obviously, the U.S. government can't afford all its overseas commitments. So, which should we cut back and how much would we save by leaving Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Germany, Kenya, and the like?
For example, almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have 56,200 military personnel based in Germany. Doing what, exactly? Protecting Germany from whom? France? Poland?
We have 33,000 troops in Japan, another expensive country, and 28,000 in South Korea.
Here's the strategic conundrum about having foreign bases with fairly large numbers of troops instead of either a huge number of troops, as during the Fulda Gap years, or just a caretaker staff to keep the base in shape in case it ever becomes needed. It's relatively cheap to keep the main battle tanks from the 1980s in storage in Germany and pay German civilian mechanics to keep them tuned up (Germans are good at tank maintenance). In case of war, we could easily fly in that many troops in a couple of days (the military has plans to borrow the fleets of Fed Ex and the big airlines, so restocking Germany with 56,200 soldiers would require, say, 112 flights of 747s), assuming we maintain air supremacy over the oceans.
Now, you might say, that's a Big If. But, if we've lost air supremacy over the oceans, well, then these poor bastards in these forward bases are dead. So, what's the war-fighting reason for deploying only moderately large numbers of troops overseas? It sounds like we have, in the unlikely event of a central European war, not enough troops in Germany to win, but, instead, just enough troops to suffer the worst defeat in American history.
Moreover, in a number of countries, most notably South Korea, leaving would do more for American popularity than anything else imaginable. For example, Seoul is a horribly overbuilt city with a gigantic green space in the middle of the city -- the U.S. military base, which we could simply give to the nation of Korea to become the Central Park of Seoul. Moreover, as Dennis Dale has pointed out from his Army service in Korea and Okinawa, thousands of horny 20-year-olds don't make the most diplomatic ambassadors for America.
The most overlooked cost-saving would be unilaterally granting independence to Puerto Rico, because we spends tens of billions each year bribing Puerto Ricans to stay home. PR no longer even has a Navy base. In the long run, the key American ally in the Caribbean will be the naturally dominant country, Cuba, making PR even more dispensable.
Maybe, it would be easier to start over with figuring out which overseas assets are truly useful. For example, Diego Garcia, the fortress island in the middle of the Indian Ocean is highly useful, and inexpensive because it's uncontested, having no real indigenous population.
Similarly, the various bases the U.S. has in friendly countries around the Persian Gulf, such as Turkey and Bahrain, seem well worth the price of guarding the flow of oil from the greatest prize in world history.
After that, well, there are a lot of refueling bases here and there, which shouldn't cost too much, and can be left with skeleton crews in times of peace.
So, what do we really need and what do we really not need?
By Steve Sailer on 8/07/2009 101 comments Labels: foreign policy
Afghanistan: Why don't we just go home?
What is America's increasingly lethal war in Afghanistan about these days other than Barack Obama trying to to check off the Must Look Tough box on David Axelrod's re-election image strategy list?
I know it's supposed to now be all about Pakistan, but for decades the Pakistanis had a simple solution to Pushtun orneriness: the government just put up a big sign at the border of the northwest frontier territory near the Afghan border saying: "Sorry, but the Government of Pakistan does not guarantee your safety beyond this point. Cheer-i-o!" If Pathans tribal raiders came roaring down out of their mountains into the worthwhile land, they'd be slaughtered on flat ground by the Pakistani Army, and go back to their mountains, so, mostly they didn't. And the government of Pakistan didn't bother trying to control the mountains because A) They're mountains, and B) They're mountains that are are full of Puhktuns ... and why would anybody want to deal with them more than the minimum it takes to make sure they stay away from you?
But ever since Obama came to power, I keep reading (actually, I only glance at the headlines) about the Pakistani Army mounting punitive expeditions into the Swat Valley that sound very much like the one Winston Churchill took part in during the 1890s.
Churchill and friends won most of the battles, but in the very long run they lost the war, for the simple reason that, in the long run, people like Winston Churchill had some place nicer than the Khyber Pass to go home to, while the Pushtuns didn't, and the Pushtuns knew that.
Bill James Sold His Soul
You aren't supposed to say bad things about the beloved Bill James, the ex-boiler-room attendant who revolutionized the interpretation of baseball statistics, but now that he has finally spoken up on the issue of steroids in baseball, I have to say that his head-in-the-sand, don't-rock-the-boat act over the last 21 years has been disgraceful.
For example, his New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract of 2001 mentions steroids maybe twice, in passing, in 1012 pages.
By largely staying mum on the impact of steroids on baseball statistics since the topic first became widely discussed when Jose Canseco enjoyed the first 40-homer 40-steal season in 1988, James got himself a nice front-office job with the Boston Red Sox, and got to be part of World Champions in 2004 and 2007, teams whose biggest stars, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, were found to be on the juice in the 2003 test.
So, what does James have to say for himself now about his silence? Well, not much. Instead, he's written complacently, in "Cooperstown and the 'Roids," about how all the notorious drug cheats of the last two decades will eventually be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
But it wasn't really an issue of some players gaining an advantage by the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs; it is an issue of many players using Performance Enhancing drugs in competition with one another. Nobody knows how many. It would be my estimate that it was somewhere between 40 and 80%. The discrimination against PED users in Hall of Fame voting rests upon the perception that this was cheating. But is it cheating if one violates a rule that nobody is enforcing, and which one may legitimately see as being widely ignored by those within the competition?
Hey, thanks for giving us that 40% to 80% estimate in 2009, Mr. Baseball Statistics Guru!
Moreover, that's a misleading way to phrase it. Perhaps 40% to 80% tried drugs at one point or another, but it's clear that 40% to 80% of the man-years weren't enhanced. Otherwise, we wouldn't see so many silly anomalies when players went on the juice, like Brady Anderson's 50 homers, or Ken Caminiti's second half of 1996.
Consider Barry Bonds. We have the full inside story on Bonds, and he comes out looking a little better than his public image would suggest. We now know he didn't touch performance enhancing drugs during his first 13 seasons, 1986-1998. From 1990-1993 he was the best player in the National League each year, and from 1994 to 1998, he was the second to fourth best player each year. If, say, 60% of his competition was on the juice, how could he compete with them?
During the 1998 season, obvious juicers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa got all that publicity for "restoring the innocence to the game," and nobody paid attention to Barry's usual monster season (.303 BA, 37 HR, 122 RBI, 120 runs, 130 walks, 44 doubles, 7 triples, 28 stolen bases, .438 on-base average, .609 slugging average, 1.047 OPS, 178 OPS+). If Barry had retired right then, he would have been a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.
Instead, resentful of the lack of press appreciation he got compared to what the cheaters got, he started dabbling with drugs in 1999, got good with them in 2000, and great with them in 2001 through 2004. When Bonds hit 73 homers in 2001 (previous career high 46 when he was eight years younger), it was perfectly obvious that he was cheating, but Bill James preferred to talk about Bonds' new maplewood bat, telling the WSJ in 2007:
I strongly suspect that the influence of steroids on hitting numbers is greatly overstated by the public. ...I've never understood why nobody writes about it, but the bats are very different now than they were 20 years ago. [Barry] Bonds's bats are still different from everybody else's.
Yeah, sure, if only I'd gotten me one of those special bats when I was 39, major league pitchers would have issued me 232 walks, too.
By Steve Sailer on 8/06/2009 82 comments Labels: baseball statistics, Sports
Once you get the joke ...
... the many articles over the last 20 years like this new one in Slate are pretty unintentionally funny:
Does this Purple Mink Make Me Look Gay?
The rise of no homo and the changing face of hip-hop homophobia
By Jonah Weiner
I particularly like the picture of Kanye West trying to look tough.
By Steve Sailer on 8/06/2009 39 comments Labels: music
Foreclosure rates in California by ethnicity
The California mortgage market is central to understanding the chain of events that brought down the world economy. No doubt something else would have dragged it down eventually, but it would be nice to know what actually happened.
Fortunately, I finally found, buried away in a San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank report, some hints on who defaulted in California, the home to a sizable majority of all defaulted mortgage dollars.
Lending in Low- and Moderate-Income Neighborhoods in California:
The Performance of CRA Lending During the Subprime Meltdown
Elizabeth Laderman
Carolina Reid
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Two economists at the San Francisco Fed made a study of mortgages originated in California in the Housing Bubble years of 2004-2006. They painstakingly matched federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data about mortgage originations, which track whether minorities get enough mortgage money but don't track whether they pay it back, with private (and expensive) Lender Processing Services (LPS) data, which don't care about ethnicity but do care about borrowers paying what they owe. The Fed economists came up with 239,101 successful matches of mortgages that show up in both databases. About 10,000 of them had entered the foreclosure process by the end of September 2007.
This is a good time period for looking at foreclosures, since these aren't 2009 foreclosures that were caused by the recession; instead, these are the foreclosures that caused the recession.
Most of this Fed report consists of a defense of the Community Reinvestment Act by showing lower foreclosure rates for banks (e.g., Washington Mutual) than for independent mortgage companies (e.g., Countrywide). Of course, that's not a very informative comparison since the Clinton Administration warned Countrywide-like firms that they would have the CRA extended to cover them legislatively unless they behaved like they already were under the CRA. Thus, Angelo Mozilo signed a deal with HUD secretary Henry Cisneros to lend more to minorities and lower income borrowers, and then put Cisneros on Countrywide's board, and even named Cisneros consultant to Mozilo's CRA-like trillion dollar pledge of January 2005.
No, what's really interesting is on pp 12-14. I put the most interesting stuff in bold at the end:
In Table 3, we present a very simple model where we predict the likelihood of foreclosure, controlling for borrower risk factors including income, race, and credit score. We present the findings as odds ratios to assist in interpreting the coefficients. We also control for neighborhood characteristics that may influence the underwriting decision, including the CAP rate, the age of the housing stock, and the percent of owner-occupied housing. Given the importance of house values in predicting foreclosures, we control for house price appreciation in each of the model iterations.
Several findings from even this simple model stand out. First, metropolitan house price changes do have a significant effect on the likelihood of foreclosure. Rapid house price appreciation in the 2 years preceding origination significantly increases the likelihood of foreclosure. This is consistent with previous research that has linked foreclosures and delinquencies to local housing market conditions, particularly in California where house prices rose quickly in relation to fundamentals and where subsequent corrections have been quite dramatic (Doms, Furlong and Krainer 2007). The tract's capitalization rate is significant only at the 10 percent level, but also increases the foreclosure rate as expected. A higher percent of owner occupied housing in a tract and more recent construction both also seem to increase the likelihood of foreclosure, but only slightly.
Second, and not surprisingly, FICO scores matter. A borrower with a FICO score of less than 640 is 12.6 times more likely to be in foreclosure than a borrower with a FICO score of more than 720; for borrowers with a FICO score between 640 and 720, the odds ratio is 4.7 times compared to borrowers with the highest credit scores. We also find that race has an independent effect on foreclosure even after controlling for borrower income and credit score. In particular, African American borrowers were 3.3 times as likely as white borrowers to be in foreclosure, whereas Latino and Asian borrowers were 2.5 and 1.6 times respectively more likely to be in foreclosure as white borrowers.
So, in the economists' simple multiple regression model, after adjusting for income and FICO, minorities in California still had substantially higher foreclosure rates than whites:
- blacks 3.3X
- Latinos 2.5X
- Asians 1.6X
(These adjusted gaps are all statistically significant at the 0.01 level.)
Presumably, the raw differences in foreclosure rates are even greater. Unfortunately, the actual raw numbers aren't listed in the report, and the authors refused my repeated email requests to release the unadjusted numbers by ethnicity.
The raw ratios are important for estimating the overall share of defaulted dollars by ethnicity in California. We know from the federal HMDA data that minorities accounted for 77% of subprime home purchase dollars borrowed in California in 2006 (the worst vintage for defaults) and 56% of all home purchase dollars. You can see the graphs here. (I'm excluding borrowers of unknown ethnicity and mixed ethnicity couples).
Request 1: Would it be possible to reverse engineer the actual raw ratios from the numbers that do appear in this report?
Request 2: Also, is the Fed subject to the Freedom of Information Act?
According to Google, even though this report is eight months old, the part about the race differences in foreclosure rates has only been quoted once before, by E. Scott Reckard, an LA Times reporter who has done a lot of good work on the mortgage meltdown.
By Steve Sailer on 8/05/2009 40 comments Labels: political economy, real estate
My Taki's Column: "The Wire"
In my weekly Taki's Magazine column, I write about the HBO television series "The Wire" and its little-mentioned tendency toward showbiz schmaltz.
Read it there and comment about it here.
By Steve Sailer on 8/05/2009 86 comments Labels: taki
Calling all actuaries
I have to confess that I've never firmly understood life expectancy statistics. Razib has been putting up graphs on GNXP of life expectancy by county, such as this one of white male life expectancy (highest in southern Minnesota, lowest in the South, Oklahoma, and the Coal Belt). The maps are fun to look at, but when trying to make sense out of them, I realized that I don't understand the basics of what a life expectancy number even means. For example, where are people placed -- where they were born, where they lived most of their lives, where they died?
Or, say, there are two rural counties that are very similar but one has an old folks home and the other doesn't, so many of the old people in the two-county region end up dying in just one of the counties. What impact does that have on life expectancy statistics by county?
And then a reader sent me a simple question:
I have a numeracy question for you because I don't know anyone else to ask. I have been thinking about life expectancy which I can easily determine for myself and for my wife. I know that she will probably outlive me, but how do I compute the probability that she will do so? (Yes, I know that it is strictly incorrect to assign a probability to a single event, but if we had 100 similar mes and 100 similar hers, then what?)
If you are less baffled by these matters than me, please comment below.
NYT: Let's Burn Down the Economy All Over Again
From an op-ed in the New York Times:
Safe at Home
By DALTON CONLEY
THE financial crisis has given rise to all sorts of wrongheaded ideas, among which is the notion that we should not subsidize the "losers" who can't make their mortgage payments. In fact, the solution to our troubles is not to restrict homeownership, but to expand it.The timing is right.
Now that prices have collapsed in many areas, low-income Americans might be able to afford to purchase homes for the first time in years. Sales of new homes in June were down 21 percent from last year. This would seem an ideal time to encourage low-income families to buy homes — if we weren't haunted by misconceptions about the roots of the subprime mortgage crisis.
This "blame the victim" mentality is hardly new. It goes back to the 1960s, when the anthropologist Oscar Lewis wrote an article whose title took root in the American public consciousness: "The Culture of Poverty." His basic argument was that poor people adopt certain practices that differ from those of "mainstream" society in order to survive. These might include illegal work, multifamily households or serial relationships in place of marriage. Once these survival strategies are in place, the argument goes, they take on a life of their own and lead to missed opportunities.
Personally, I suspect that the main reason that poor people are less likely to pay back their mortgages than rich people is because poor people tend to have less money than rich people, but, then, I'm not the Dean of Social Sciences at NYU like Dalton Conley, so what do I know?
... But Lewis's theories seem to have gained new life in the notion that a certain stratum of Americans just aren't capable of homeownership, and that the increase in homeownership rates contributed to the real estate bust. The "natural" rate should be around 60 percent of American households, some analysts say, not the 70 percent it reached in 2004. That's an unfortunate argument, because owning a home can be one of the best ways for a poor family to save and accumulate assets: recent history aside, the value of a house does typically rise, and its owner avoids paying rent and gets a tax break.
We could improve the housing market as well as the security of poor families by making homeownership more attainable.
Decades of government programs to make homeownership "affordable" only succeeded by 2007 in making homeownership insanely unaffordable, so I guess the plan is to replace the word "affordable" with the word "attainable" and then just rerun the same old stuff.
Currently, the biggest policy to support homeownership other than the mortgage interest deduction is the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage program, which works by insuring loans made to buyers through traditional lenders (that is, it decreases risk to lending agencies by underwriting the loan). However, many of the most disadvantaged Americans, and minorities in particular, do not qualify for F.H.A. loans because of their low net worth and other factors.
Into this breach stepped a North Carolina organization called Self-Help. In 1998, Self-Help received a $50 million grant from the Ford Foundation. The money was used to insure the mortgages of low-wealth families that aspired to homeownership, but had trouble getting loans in the private market. More than $2 billion in mortgages were guaranteed over five years, making homeownership possible for 27,000 families that might not have qualified for conventional loans.
This experiment of sorts provided evidence that there was a market failure in mainstream lending that was shutting out deserving borrowers. The foreclosure rate of lenders participating in the program was below the national average. This tells scholars of finance that something is not working in the traditional loan market.
Hmmhmm, or maybe it just says that home prices went up in North Carolina from 1999 to 2004, so nobody got foreclosed upon because, if you couldn't make your payments, you could always sell your house for more than you owe. Of course, I'm not one of those "scholars of finance" who have been doing such a bang-up job lately, so don't take my word for it.
... By expanding the Self-Help program "to scale" — by underwriting mortgages for people who are now excluded from F.H.A. — the government could not only support affordable refinancing of existing mortgages but could also extend the dream of homeownership to households now shut out of the market.
The "dream of homeownership" ... whom have I heard that phrase from before? Angelo Mozilo? George W. Bush? Henry Cisneros? Bill Clinton?
Instead of critiquing low-income buyers who may have made reasonable calculations in an upbeat housing market, we should focus on building a more comprehensive system to aid low-income purchasers and repair the housing market in the process. Otherwise, we are squandering an opportunity to move past ill-formed moral discourse about poverty and its causes.
Dalton Conley, the dean of social sciences at New York University, is the author of "Elsewhere, U.S.A."
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: August 5, 2009
An Op-Ed article on Tuesday, about helping poor families buy houses, misstated the home state of Self-Help, a group that insures mortgages. It is based in North Carolina, not South Carolina.
The North Carolina angle is not insignificant: Self-Help is centered in North Carolina, which has had a Goldilocks housing market -- not too hot, not too cold -- for years. So, the foreclosure rate in North Carolina is below the national average.
Declines in violence
Steven Pinker has an article on how the rate of killing has tended to fall since prehistoric times. I would suggest that war just doesn't pay no more, except, possibly in the case of mineral rich targets.
Warfare in medieval Europe used to go on in a desultory fashion with no end in sight because the stakes were low: one set of aristocrats felt they had the right to supplant another in collecting taxes from the peasants. (Dynastic marriages, so often seen as bringing peace in the short term, tended to create long-term situations in which every throne had multiple claimants with plausible genealogies.)
War couldn't do much damage to the productive capabilities of rain-watered cropland, so why not fight? But once most of the value was in fragile buildings and the like, war became a lose-lose proposition.
At the level of crime, the Lily Burk case out in LA (see below) suggests just how many ways cops can build a case against a killer if they are really motivated to go all CSI on a bad guy. They've got security camera footage of the kidnapper and his victim pulling into parking lots, they've tracked her cell phone, they've got ATM records, etc.
I've never actually sat all the way through a CSI episode, but I very much like the fact that lots of would-be criminals who watch those shows now believe that the police all have high tech hoodoo powers of detection so that they are more likely to believe crime doesn't pay.
Combine the televised wizardry of modern crime-solving with the stupidity of most criminals, and it's really not a fair fight anymore. (Lily Burk's murderer was arrested about an hour after killing her for merely drinking in public. The the home invader who slashed the throat of my wife's friend 18 months ago was arrested because he called all his friends from the cellphone he stole from her; the police called them and they immediately rolled over on him and squealed that they could arrest him any morning at his local Jack-in-the-Box.)
An unteachable moment
Two days after President Obama's denunciation of racial profiling at his press conference, a blonde 17-year-old private schoolgirl, whose mother is a law school professor and advocate for the homeless and whose father was a longtime jazz critic for the local alternative weekly, was somehow abducted off busy Wilshire Blvd. in the middle of the afternoon by a ten-time loser homeless black crackhead, and, after a tour of ATMs, murdered in her car.
It's been a huge story in Los Angeles for over a week. (Here's the latest news.)
Here's a minor local columnist's braindump that reveals a lot about why white liberals are such fine haters (see "Projection"). I'll quote it at length because the transition is so starkly hilarious that if I shortened it, you'd assume I had distorted it.
Children are murdered in Southern California on a tragically regular basis.
They are beaten by mothers or mothers' boyfriends or so-called "foster" parents. They are slaughtered in selfish family massacres by suicidal fathers. They are felled by stray bullets in drive-by shootings.
So why does the senseless death of Lily Burk affect me so deeply? Why do I pore over news articles about her? Why do I agonizingly imagine her final, terrifying moments?
Why, in fact, does the media seemingly focus more on Lily than on most child murders?
I can only speak for myself, but I suspect similar reasons.
Lily was 17 and headed for her senior year of high school. My daughter, almost 17, is headed for her senior year of high school.
In a widely circulated photo, Lily is wearing a fashionable scarf around her neck. My daughter, too, "got into" scarves last winter.
Lily had a mass of dark blond hair, like my daughter.
Lily's father is a journalist. I, and many of my friends, are journalists. Lily's mom is an attorney. My mom, my brothers and some of my friends are attorneys.
Lily grew up in a middle-class family that, apparently, values education and the arts. Like us.
Lily was a creative sort - as are both my children, in their own ways.
Lily was a new driver running an errand for her mother. My daughter just passed her driving test a few days ago.
Lily was abducted by a transient in downtown Los Angeles. I worked for years in downtown Los Angeles and can easily visualize the turf.
Lily was white. Like my daughter. Like my son. Like almost all of my family. Like the bulk of my friends. Like me.
I never knew Lily, but she feels very familiar.
While I choke up over pictures of the sweet little boy ruthlessly bludgeoned by his stepfather, I cannot as instantly relate to the circumstances.
There is a lot of ranting going on by publicity-hungry white male windbags about "reverse racism." It is unbecoming, to say the least. And it is even more repugnant when white male political leaders - who, after all, represent our diverse country - offer scant rebuttal.
To label Sonia Sotomayor racist over a tiny soundbite in which she relates to and celebrates her own ethnic group - during a pep talk to that ethnic group - is egocentric at best.
To dismiss the painful history of racial profiling as a lesser issue than President Obama's unmeasured use of the word "stupidly" - regarding the arrest of a black scholar at his own house - is insensitive at best.
And for intelligent adults to keep perpetrating a thoroughly debunked rumor that our first African American president qualifies as strictly African but not American is immature at best.
In every one of those scenarios, the term "at best" is charitable at best.
We like to pretend to be a colorblind society. We like to pretend that race doesn't matter - thereby, some argue, saying that it does is in and of itself racist.
But racial profiling does not just occur among police officers, or it would be a pesky problem instead of a persistent, gaping wound. Police departments are merely a microcosm of society at large.
Indeed, we owe a huge debt to those who risk their lives to protect us - doing so with the same kinds of biases every human harbors in some form or another.
Racial - and/or cultural and/or socioeconomic and/or religious and/or educational and/or regional and/or political and/or etcetera - profiling is embedded in our hearts.
Let's be honest: Whatever our skin color, we do tend to notice skin color. Whatever our background, we do tend to connect most automatically with people of the same background.
Thus, in a country dominated by white people, nonwhite people are vulnerable to being marginalized and discriminated against.
For a white man, who has reaped the innumerable benefits of his majority status, to cry racism when a minority ever so mildly expresses sentiments born from firsthand experience is disingenuous at best.
(While we're on the topic, I'd be curious to know how many of these spewing volcanoes partied at college in all-white fraternities. And so on.)
I can't think of Lily Burk without thinking about my daughter and the enormous, risky world into which she is soon to embark. Lily could have been my child.
California v. Texas
Ross Douthat follows up my old California v. Texas theme in the NY Times.
The key point that he leaves unsaid is that you can afford a huge Hispanic population a lot more easily in a conservative state than in a liberal one. But, can you stay a conservative state once you have a huge number of Hispanic voters?
By Steve Sailer on 8/03/2009 42 comments Labels: Californication
My new VDARE.com column: Advice for GOP on capitalizing on the Brewhaha
Here's my new VDARE.com column.
Read it there and comment about it below.
Currently, the GOP brain trust of professional political consultants is baffled by the question of how the mostly white Republicans can possibly ever again defeat a growing coalition of blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and liberal whites.
Hmmmhmmmhmm ... That's a tough one. Clearly, nobody in the entire global history of conflict has ever figured out a strategy to use against a large but diverse coalition.
Oh, wait, I have heard of a strategy.
It's called Divide and Conquer.
See, the idea is that you encourage the other side to squabble amongst themselves over their conflicting interests.
For example, the Republicans can say to the Democrats,
"Okay, let's talk about a compromise on Racial Preferences and Immigration. Obviously, we can't afford to have both. If you'll stop and think for a moment, you'll see why.
"So, you Democrats go discuss amongst yourselves which one you want -- Racial Preferences or Immigration -- and which one you don't want. Let us know when you make up your minds. It's an important decision, so make sure to hash it out fully. Get input from all interest groups within the Democratic Party. Take your time!"
Of course, what the Democrats want is A) Both and B) For nobody to ever mention either topic in public.
In this decade, GOP leaders like Bush and McCain have been happy to play into Democrats' hands, with the inevitable results.
By Steve Sailer on 8/02/2009 114 comments Labels: Obama, politics
My new VDARE.com column: Advice for GOP on capital...